I've lost my widgets

Today I decided to change my blog template to something completely different. I suspected that in so doing that I would lose my widgets (all the links and such down the right side of the page), and sure enough, I did.

In typical fashion, I had the new Pyzam template for about 30 seconds and decided I didn't like it, so I changed it back to the old one and kept looking for a design I liked better.

While I was looking for the ideal Blogger template (which doesn't exist, BTW), Blogger decided that it won't accept any new template code, so I'm stuck using a canned Blogger template for now. I'm slowly putting back my widgets, knowing that it's only temporary until I can get a new template to install. At which point I'll lose my widgets again.

Just thought someone out there might be wondering about my widgets.

Or not.

Day 3: Grow a Boyfriend

It's Day 3 of the "Ten Days to Grow a Boyfriend" experiment. Arnold's progress is slow, and I have to say I'm a bit discouraged.

My blogging friend Lida suggested using a ruler so that we can measure his growth scientifically and precisely. Arnold began this journey at 2 inches in length. As of Day 3, Arnold has grown 1/4 inch in length but he has bulked up considerably.

Unless he picks up the pace, I'm starting to think that this is all we can expect from Arnold.
It's a good thing that looks aren't everything.

Blog Award

Toni kindly graced me the Arte y Pico Blog Award. I love visiting Toni's blog and being inspired all the beautiful cards she makes. Before Toni, I had no clue about Copic markers! I also love seeing pictures of her family, her furbabies, and the beautiful area where she lives. Thank you, Toni!

There are many blogs that I find inspirational for one reason or another. It's hard to pick just five! I'm passing the award on to:

Cheri - She inspires me with her digital/hybrid designs and extreme productivity! :-)
Fonda - Her boundless creativity stretches my imagination!
Kristina - Her pages are always beautiful, and she surely has one of the coolest scrap rooms around!
Sarah C - Whether she's posting awesome LO's, organizational tips, decorating ideas, or movie recommendations, Sarah is a great addition to the blogging community!
Gingerkitty - Melina inspires me with her creative photography, her LO's, and her informative vlogs!

Here are the rules:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.

4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico’ blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. http://www.arteypico.blogspot.com/

5. To show these rules.

Grow a Boyfriend: Day 2 and dining room update

After 12 hours in water, this is what Arnold looks like:

He hasn't grown much in length, but his biceps appear to be puffed up just a bit. This morning I noticed that Arnold's head is tilted at an odd angle. But I'm not alarmed by this new development because reading the fine print prepared me for it: "As your toy grows, it may distort in shape. This is part of the fun and will correct when fully grown."

Stay tuned for further distortions.

* * * * *

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you may recall that we've been doing some re-decorating of our main floor. This has involved stripping wallpaper, painting, and general marital strife for a full year now. I'm happy to report, however, that the dining room is FINALLY pretty much finished, after yesterday's installation of a glass top for our table.

When we bought the table 14 years ago, we planned to get a glass top. It took us 14 years to make the call. Yep, 14 years. Not sure what took so long, but once the call was made, it only took a few days to get the glass. Rather than a single large piece, I had it cut into three pieces because of the table leaf: If we remove the leaf, we can still use the glass.

This morning, the lovely, clean glass was COVERED with paths of adorable little paw prints. As much as I like it, the glass is going to be a challenge to keep clean.

A couple of weeks ago (before we decided to get the glass), I purchased and returned a series of table runners and tablecloths. Today I went to Target and bought one of the table runners for a second time, and this time I'm keeping it. (By the way, there were NO "Grow a Boyfriend" packages at this particular Target.) The runner is the same gold color as the accent pillows that I had Daughter sew a few days ago, so everything finally looks somewhat coordinated. (Why have pillows in the dining room? Good question, but I like them there.) I found a hammered wooden bowl and filled it with woven balls. After trying numerous other centerpiece options, I think this one provides the right amount of color and texture.

With the glass table top and the woven balls, Lily and Tinsel are sure to have grand time in the dining room.

Grow a Boyfriend: Day 1

I've just got to say that, as the parent of a teenage girl, "Grow a Boyfriend" has a certain level of appeal to me.

OK, Arnold (that's what I'm calling him) took the plunge this evening into a mixing bowl of water. If you read the fine print (I hadn't), you'll see that he can take up to 10 days to grow, so putting him in the sink was out of the question. Some astute blog readers also noticed that he will grow to 600% of his original size. Being somewhat (read: TOTALLY) math-impaired, I thought that sounded pretty big. Alas, Daughter corrected me: He'll only grow to 6 times his original size, so there is no need for panic.

Here is Arnold ready to dive:


And here he is after about 60 minutes under water. He is slimy, but he hasn't started to grow. I'm sure he's just warming up.

We'll photo document Arnold's growth over the next 10 days.
After all, Arnold cost $1, and we want to be sure we got our money's worth.

Target Dollar Spot Find

Well, now we know that the Target Dollar Spot has everything, even Mr. Right.

Feline Friday: Fun with Rubbermaid

Call me easily amused, but there is something about a cat in a Rubbermaid container, viewed through the plastic, that I find completely adorable.

Lucky for me, Lily recently made herself comfortable in just such a container, which made for the purr-fect photo op.

As a side note, you'd be surprised at how heavy she is when lifting her above your head to get these shots. Too many cookies, Lily.

Adorably You Layout and 2 Peas Challenge

Here's a layout I just completed for the LSS where I teach. This will be a take-home project for customers. For this layout, our store owner gave me Making Memories Glitter Letters and Jigsaw Chipboard Shapes to work with. I decided it would be fun to make a layout using my handy-dandy (and much loved) Marvy Giga Square Punch (2 1/8").

I printed nine wallet-sized photos of my two favorite kitties, punched them out, then punched enough cardstock to total 30 squares. After inking each square, I ran them through my Xyron and adhered them to the layout. Next to the title, I used one of the new Bazzill Just the Edge scalloped strips. I love the concept of these strips, by the way. It's sort of the same concept as the muffin tops you can get at Panera...someone figured out a way to make only the really good part.

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Today's 2Peas Blogging Challenge is this: Name three things you'd like to donate to charity right now.

1. Two flowered upholstered chairs -- I'm trying to locate a family right now through our church who could use furniture. It's just a matter of time before the chairs go to a new home!

2. Miscellaneous kitchen and household items -- We're having a garage sale in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping to donate whatever does not sell to a local free store which helps battered women set up new homes.

3. Clothing -- I know from past experience that my old clothes will NOT sell at our garage sale. I'll donate them to our local clothes closet or Goodwill.

Random Musings on a Tuesday

Admittedly, this batch of Random Musings is a little weak. And that's actually a good thing, because it means I haven't done anything REALLY stupid since the last batch of Random Musings, nor have I experienced really poor customer service or spotted any new crooked signs. But random is random, so we'll just have to go with it for today:

* I really like the concept of hail, as long as it doesn't dent the car or damage my plants. I like to scoop it up and put it in the freezer. But I would rather not have hail at 3:30 in the morning, as we did last night. I would call this pea-sized hail:

* Top on my list of pet peeves would be Internet outages. We've had two in the past week alone. Grrr...

* While I was getting a tooth filled recently, my dentist was talking to the dental assistant about purchasing a new piece of equipment for the office: The Easy Extractor. Hello? EASY Extractor? Only a dentist would think up such a name.

* DD's boyfriend was visiting recently and asked if we had a paper towel. Any guess as to what he had found? Yep, one of Tinsel's special little "Fecal Gifts". This is NOT the kind of gift one likes to give to a guest.

* Special note to Tinsel: OK, Tinsel, we understand that you are angry about Lily living here. Lily will not be going away anytime soon. She's your adopted sister, and we don't want you to kill her as she sleeps. Tinsel, you need to stop acting out your anger via your bowel movements. Mommy has tried numerous kinds of litter (well, MOMMY hasn't tried the litter, but she has purchased it for YOU to try), spread aluminum foil all over the floor, squirted neutralizing spray, purchased a new litter box, and given you extra attention. Still you choose not to use the box consistently. Mommy is frustrated. Your doctor recommends Kitty Prozac. Mommy will not medicate you, but if your behavior does not change, she may very well medicate herself.

* It occurred to me the other day that I like my coffee strong and my tea weak. Not sure what that means, if anything.

* I have ordered a large green shag rug for the family room. If it looks too much like grass, that could cause additional issues for Tinsel and I'll have to send it back.

* Last year I planted zinnias in front of my new wrought iron fence, but they weren't tall enough. Today, I found some "super giant" very tall zinnia seeds. They should grow 36 inches high. I bought six packages. I have no idea if that is enough for a 12 foot border.

* I watched a program on PBS about Alaska. I still want to see a moose in the wild, and it appears that if I go to Alaska I just might see one. The narrator said that a moose is actually the largest member of the deer family. I guess I should have noticed the family resemblance...

* For the past 14 years, DH and I have been talking about getting a piece (or pieces) of glass cut for the top of our dining room table. After 14 years of talking about it, I've finally got someone scheduled to measure it. Surely no one moves more slowly than us.

* I've decided that I pretty much don't like sheer ribbon. I mean I'll use it if I have to, or if it's just the right color, but much prefer solid ribbon. So there.

* I have way too much stuff. Just way too much. I don't need half of what is in this house. I feel burdened by stuff. Some serious offloading needs to occur. A garage sale is coming up. Hopefully someone will want some of this stuff.

* Cool words of the week:
Flotsam = floating debris, as from a ship wreck
Jetsam = cargo tossed overboard to lighten a load

* Cool LOLCAT thing of the week: LOLCAT Dictionary
This will be great for all of us who spend too much time translating LOLCAT captions.

* I swear I'm almost addicted to HGTV. If I had nothing else to do, I could watch decorating shows practically 'round the clock. You would think with as many decorating shows as I've seen that I'd stop making so many decorating errors. I'm obviously a slow learner.

* The name of the evil stair thingy machine at the fitness center is the Elliptical Machine. Try as I may, I cannot get the hang of that stupid thing. I refuse to even try anymore.

* Our friends at the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL) are still trekking across America, finding typos and correcting them whenever possible. Follow the adventures of this brave crew on the TEAL blog.

* An earthquake of 5.2 magnitude hit the Midwest last week. Hundreds of people in our area reported feeling the tremor around 4:30 AM. Being sound asleep, I didn't feel it but strangely, Lily woke me up right around that time. I am now convinced that she felt the earthquake. She's now Lily, the Earthquake Sensing Cat.

Glitter Cuts Layout

Here's a layout I created as a store sample / project using the new Fancy Pants Glitter Cuts overlays. These transparencies come in lots of different designs. I love the fact that they're smaller in size and can be modified to fit your project. For this project, I just added a few Prima flowers, which enabled me to easily hide my adhesive.

I'm sold on the concept of Glitter Cuts! A great look in no time at all.

Feline Friday: Looking Back

I was only a small child when the
seeds of cat enchantment were sown within me.
May Eustace

This is a picture of me, two years old, outside of our house. In many pictures from my childhood, I'm carrying a cat, pushing a baby kitten in a buggy, or holding a kitty wearing a doll dress. Cats have always been a huge part of my life, and my days have been richly blessed by the many cats I have loved.

Big Lots Score!

OK, I got myself into a little trouble today when I stopped at Big Lots, but let me just say that it could have been MUCH worse. While Big Lots is not my favorite place in the world, I've found a few scrapbooking goodies on mega-clearance there -- notably Ki Memories stuff. But it's really hit and miss.

I had a few minutes to spare today so thought I'd pop in. Oh, my goodness...I found American Crafts (probably my second favorite brand after Ki) and Heidi Grace stuff. They had several cans of the AC felt/foam/chipboard shapes -- Christmas, arrow, punctuation, and baby girl themes. I restrained myself, since I already have the Christmas shapes and heaven knows I do not need any more arrows. They also had several boxes of AC ribbon, but I recognized many of the spools from my own stash. :-)

They also had lots of alphabets and rub-ons by both AC and HG (the rub-ons were mostly black and brown). Since I have plenty of alphabet rub-ons, I picked up a few sheets of sticker/chipboard letters for $1 each. Even the large HG flocked chipboard letters were $1. Not that I need any more of this stuff, but I could not resist at such a great price! My total bill? $6.36.

And yes, I realize that I just posted about using my stash... :-)